Lawyer for teen arson suspect wants police interview excluded

Videotaped interview shows boy admitting he set April 29 fire

Published 12:07 PM EDT Jul 23, 2013

LEWISTON, Maine -

A hearing to determine whether a videotaped police interview given by a boy accused of starting a fire that destroyed three Lewiston apartment buildings last April will be used at his trial will resume on Friday morning.

During the interview, the boy, who was 12 at the time, admits to police that he started the April 29 fire that destroyed three apartment buildings, including the one where he lived.

A judge in Lewiston District Court on Monday heard arguments from the prosecutor and defense lawyer Allan Lobozzo about the admissibility of the interview. Lobozzo is trying to have the interview thrown out, saying the boy was not given his Miranda rights before he spoke to police.

WMTW News 8 is not identifying the boy because of his age. He is charged with three counts of arson in connection with an April 29 fire that destroyed three buildings and left dozens of people homeless.

The judge spent most of Monday's hearing watching a three hour interview that the boy gave to police. Within 20 minutes of the start of the interview, the boy admitted to police that he started the fire at 111 Blake St., the apartment building where he lived.

Lobozzo also told WMTW News 8 that at Friday's hearing he will seek the boy's release from the Long Creek Youth Development Center, where he has been held since his arrest last spring.

Another Lewiston boy is facing four counts of arson stemming from a fire that started in a vacant garage on Bartlett Street on May 3 and destroyed three other apartment buildings.

Between the two fires, 200 people were left homeless.

Two Lewiston men, Brian Morin and Bryan Wood, have been charged with three counts of arson in connection with a third fire on May 6 that destroyed the buildings at 114 and 118 Bartlett St. and damaged a third on Horton Street.

Copyright 2013 byWMTW.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.